AP PHOTO/DOUG MCSCHOOLER
Advancing Progressive Religious
Liberty in 2016
By Carolyn Davis March 30, 2016
W W W.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG
Advancing Progressive
Religious Liberty in 2016
By Carolyn Davis March 30, 2016
Contents
1 Introduction and summary
3 Misusing religious liberty to defend
discrimination and intolerance
5 Progressive religious liberty restores balance
between belief and the rights of others
6 Faith voices demonstrate popular support for progressive religious liberty
10 Recommendations
10 Include progressive religious liberty in issue advocacy
11 Demonstrate that religious liberty has an intersectional effect
on vulnerable communities
12 Frame anti-Muslim bigotry as a religious liberty issue
12 Fight overly broad religious exemptions and advance a progressive vision
of religious liberty
14 Conclusion
15 About the author
16 Endnotes
Introduction and summary
On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court took up Zubik v. Burwell. Supreme
Court justices once again heard from those challenging the employer contraceptive
coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. The plaintiffs argue that the
law violates their religious freedoms, even though the ACA allows them to avoid
actually providing the insurance if they fill out a simple form.1 Zubik is an example
of cynical efforts by extreme conservatives to exploit religion as a smokescreen for
policies that discriminate and endanger the rights of Americans everywhere. It is a
version of religious freedom that allows certain religious beliefs to trump the rights
of others, cause harm, and allow one group to impose their religion on another. This
bears little resemblance to the liberty our country’s founders intended.
Religious liberty has always been a core American value, enshrined in the First
Amendment and central to maintaining the democratic experiment in our perennially diverse society. But contrary to the intent of the country’s founders, state
legislatures across the country are advancing bills that create harmful, imbalanced religious liberty protections for business owners, government officials, and
even private parties opposed to national marriage equality, certain health care
decisions, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or LGBT, adoption, and more.2
Conservative congressional lawmakers have pledged their support to the First
Amendment Defense Act, or FADA—which would allow marriage equality opponents and those with objections to premarital sex to refuse to follow laws without
penalty or intervention from the government.3 Conservative activists and media
figures also continue to advance a “war on religion” narrative to justify resisting
civil rights for LGBT Americans and denying women legally mandated health
care—while also regularly questioning whether Muslims and other religious
minorities deserve religious liberty protections.4
Extreme conservatives cannot and should not have the monopoly on defining
religious liberty. Current efforts to twist religious liberty distort the very meaning of one of the country’s founding freedoms: Religious liberty belongs to all
Americans. This report demonstrates that Americans of faith and conscience
1 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
across the ideological spectrum reject the use of religion to discriminate and justify harm against others. Furthermore, it articulates a hopeful, progressive understanding of religious liberty that restores balance and inclusion for religious and
nonreligious Americans alike—a framework that is critical to reaching increasingly influential demographics, including Millennials:
• Religious liberty is a core value that belongs to all Americans and serves to
ensure that one group cannot impose its beliefs or practices on another.
• Religious liberty should exist in a balanced relationship with the other freedoms
that are afforded to all Americans. It should not be interpreted to permit harm to
others or limit civil rights.
• Religious liberty protections should be enforced for all Americans and not only
for those of a specific religious faith.
Finally, this report offers four recommendations to lawmakers, candidates, advocates, and stakeholders to advance progressive religious liberty in 2016 and beyond:
• Highlight the support of the faith community for progressive policies, such as
reproductive health care access and comprehensive nondiscrimination protections, in conjunction with opposition to overly broad religious exemptions
• Demonstrate that abuses of religious liberty protections can have a disproportionate negative impact on vulnerable communities, such as women of color
and LGBT youth
• Call out the hypocrisy of war on religion narratives by framing anti-Muslim bigotry as a religious liberty issue and calling it what it is—discrimination against
Muslim citizens and immigrants alike
• Fight overly broad religious exemptions on the state and federal levels; support
comprehensive nondiscrimination protections; and advance legislation that
affirms a progressive vision of religious liberty that is balanced with protections
against harm to others
2 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Misusing religious liberty to defend
discrimination and intolerance
If many current conservative lawmakers and activists are to be believed, the threat
of religious persecution lurks around every corner of American life. The conservative media machine and its pundits have worked tirelessly to spin the advent
of common sense progressive policies as an “assault on religious liberty.”5 The
constant so-called war on religion has proven to be particularly effective to certain
audiences. Republicans are now twice as likely as Democrats to believe that religious liberty is under attack in the United States.6 Moreover, more than 80 percent
of white evangelical Protestants believe that religious liberty is under threat in the
United States, whereas 55 percent of Catholics and 53 percent of white mainline
Protestants believe the same.7
The effect of the war on religion narrative is being felt in both federal and state
policy. In 2015, conservative congressional lawmakers introduced FADA and the
Health Care Conscience Rights Act. Both bills are designed to carve out broad
exemptions for government officials and employees, health care workers, business
owners, and others who wish to use religion as a defense to ignore local, state,
and federal nondiscrimination protections, as well as legally mandated health
care coverage requirements. The Health Care Conscience Rights Act would,
among other actions, amend the ACA—allowing employers to refuse to provide
employee insurance coverage for medical services or prescription medications, to
which the employer objects on religious or moral grounds. FADA would prohibit
the federal government from taking “any discriminatory action against a person”
who “believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that
marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or
that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.”8
Similar versions of these federal bills are also appearing on the state level. Already
this year, state FADA bills have been introduced in Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington state, as well as less expansive versions
in states such as Missouri.9 Bills providing religious or conscience exemptions
for health care providers have been recently introduced in Florida, Michigan,
3 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.10 Mississippi has introduced a bill that
offers protections similar to those enumerated in FADA in both public accommodations and health care provision, among others.11 Bills such as these join
the increasing and steady effort to advance overly broad Religious Freedom
Restoration Acts, or RFRAs, and attach sweeping religious exemptions to other
areas of policy—such as adoption services—which have already been discussed in
detail in previous Center for American Progress reports.12
Sadly, fearmongering, discriminatory rhetoric also appears to be gaining traction
among Americans resistant to religious diversity and tolerance. In 2015, one poll
demonstrated that 82 percent of Americans strongly favor religious liberty for
Christians.13 However, far fewer Americans—just 67 percent—supported protecting the religious freedom of American Muslims.14 This lack of support for Muslims
in America has too often translated to harassment and discrimination, challenging
the right of Muslims to believe and worship freely. In some cases, Muslims must
walk past armed protesters to simply attend regular services at their mosques.15
Meanwhile, some politicians are calling for bans on Muslim immigration.16
Disgracefully, a majority of conservative Republicans believe that Muslims in the
United States “should be subject to greater scrutiny than those in other religious
groups.”17 As a consequence, mosques and gurdwaras, where Sikhs—a religious
group that is distinct from yet often confused with Muslims—gather to worship,
are being targeted by protesters and vandals.18 Muslim children express increased
fear that they will be detained or deported.19 This spike in bigotry and suspicion is
simply incompatible with cherished American values.
4 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Progressive religious liberty
restores balance between belief
and the rights of others
In 2016, some conservatives continue to cynically abuse the concept of religious
liberty in order to impose regressive restrictions on reproductive health access and
LGBT civil rights, while refusing to extend religious liberty to Muslims and other
religious minorities. However, a growing number of Americans on both sides of
the aisle—including, most notably, young evangelical Millennials—are simply
growing tired of how religion is used and abused in America’s culture wars.20 And
while they may not agree on every issue, most mainline Protestant denominations—as well as a multitude of faith leaders and theologians—have found that
reproductive health care access, protections for LGBT people, and combatting
Islamophobia are not only compatible with their freedom of religious belief and
practice but are also essential to their religious identities. Some examples include:
• The United Church of Christ: “Systematic attempts to undermine the status of
women can be seen in: efforts to deny women reproductive rights which are the
law of the land, the passage of legislation that inserts government into health
care choices which should be personal and private; state legislation which overturns equal pay laws, failure at the national level to renew equal pay laws. … We
believe it is important for the United Church of Christ to again bear witness to
the presence of another theological perspective on these issues – one that challenges the assumption of inferior-superior relationships between genders.”21
• The Episcopal Public Policy Network of the Episcopal Church Office of
Government Relations: “Equality under the law is a constitutional right for
every citizen of the United States. Presiding Bishop Elect Michael Curry said, ‘I
believe, as the scripture says, that all people are created in the image and likeness
of God, and that all are therefore to be accorded the rights and dignity that befit
a child of God’… So that LGBT persons may live healthy and full lives, these
rights should include access to marriage, housing, and public accommodations
such as usage of public restaurants, restrooms, and other spaces.”22
5 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
• Rev. Richard Cizik, president, New Evangelical Partnership for the Common
Good: “Do not be seduced by the racialized demagoguery being used to whip
up resentment towards refugees and our fellow Americans who are of Muslim
faith. This is nothing more than unjustified fear being used by politicians for
their own political gain. The twin evils of fear and the manipulation of political
power ought to prompt immediate alarm bells and a rejection of such tactics.”23
The inclusive articulations of religious liberty offered above have much in common with progressive aims. They incorporate a respect for religious belief—and
nonbelief—balanced with the rights of others and the freedoms that are fundamental to the country’s democracy. Furthermore, this progressive interpretation
of religious liberty opposes the use of religion to justify intolerance.
Resisting dangerous, overly broad interpretations of religious liberty affirms
progressive values by ensuring that the American dream remains in reach of
all Americans, and it reflects the values of people of faith who are committed
to equality and opportunity for all. In short, a progressive vision of religious
liberty affirms three things:
• Religious liberty is a core value that belongs to all Americans and serves to
ensure that one group cannot impose its beliefs or practices on another.
• Religious liberty should exist in a balanced relationship with the other freedoms
afforded to all Americans. It should not be interpreted to permit harm to others
or to limit civil rights.
• Religious liberty protections should be enforced for all Americans and not only
for those of a specific religious faith.
Faith voices demonstrate popular support for progressive
religious liberty
Progressive ideas and policies emerge out of, and not in spite of, diverse American
religious and ethical commitments. Progressive people of faith and conscience—
religious and nonreligious alike—already speak from their values in favor of full
access to reproductive health care, comprehensive nondiscrimination protections,
and the fostering of religious tolerance. Moreover, when it comes to religion,
6 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
freedom and policy can be mutually reinforcing. Below are several examples that
detail the strong popular support among key voting demographics—including
women and Millennials—for a progressive interpretation of religious liberty that
is compatible with these policies.
Women support comprehensive reproductive health care access—which
includes protecting employees from the religious beliefs of their employers
Women voters are demonstrating their conviction that the ACA contraception
mandate reflects the government’s compelling interest in protecting women voters’ ability to make family planning decisions that are right for them. Support for
the ACA contraceptive mandate cuts past religious and partisan lines. Majorities
of Protestant women—66 percent—and Catholic women—63 percent—are even
more likely than nonreligious women—59 percent—to support the ACA contraceptive mandate. In making critical health care decisions, women prioritize using
their own faith values and conscience—and they oppose the real government
overreach that occurs when politicians or employers are permitted to insert themselves into a woman’s health care decisions. Less than one-fourth of all women
believe that employers should be exempted from the ACA mandate on the basis
of religious beliefs regarding contraception.24 Moreover, 6 in 10 millennial women
agree that “access to contraception is critical for the financial security of women.”25
Ensuring that religious liberty cannot be used to limit women’s reproductive health
care is especially important for economically vulnerable communities, regardless of gender. Ninety-two percent of black Americans and 85 percent of Hispanic
Americans favor expanding birth control access for women who cannot afford it.26
Many faith leaders also believe that employers and politicians should not interfere with a woman’s health care access. A 2014 open letter signed by more than
1,000 faith leaders from 45 states and 35 religious traditions—and rereleased
by the Religious Institute in response to challenges to the ACA contraceptive
mandate—affirmed:
No single religious voice can speak for all faith traditions on contraception, nor
should government take sides on religious differences. We oppose any attempt
to make specific religious doctrine concerning pregnancy, childbirth, or contraception the law of any country in the world. Religious groups themselves must
respect the beliefs and values of other faiths, since no single faith can claim final
moral authority in domestic or international discourse.27
7 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
LGBT rights and nondiscrimination protections free of discriminatory
exemptions enjoy wide support
Faith leaders and everyday Americans have overwhelmingly declared that LGBT
Americans deserve nondiscrimination protections. Majorities of both political
parties and independents, as well as majorities of all major religious groups, favor
LGBT nondiscrimination laws. 28 Moreover, many also resist excusing business
owners and other providers from their responsibilities to serve everyone equally—
regardless of religious beliefs—including 58 percent of Hispanic Protestants; 58
percent of white Catholics; 56 percent of white mainline Protestants; 72 percent of
Jewish Americans; and 71 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans.29
Progressive religious organizations have often been the first to speak out against
discriminatory uses of religious liberty—as did the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) in 2015 when Indiana passed its controversial state RFRA law. A letter
signed by Sharon E. Watkins, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) general
minister and president, as well as additional church officials stated:
Purportedly a matter of religious freedom, we find RFRA contrary to the values
of our faith – as well as to our national and Hoosier values. Our nation and
state are strong when we welcome people of many backgrounds and points of
view. The free and robust exchange of ideas is part of what makes our democracy
great. … Our members and assembly-goers are of different races and ethnicities,
ages, genders and sexual orientations. They have in common that they love Jesus
and seek to follow him.30
Millennials are especially likely to embrace progressive religious liberty
Shifting religious attitudes among Millennials—coupled with strong affinities
for progressive policies and ideals—mean that a progressive vision for religious
liberty might especially resonate among this key voting demographic. Millennials
represent approximately 30.5 percent of all eligible voters in 2016.31 Sixty-seven
percent of Millennials overwhelmingly reject discriminatory religious exemptions for business owners, and 80 percent of Millennials favor nondiscrimination
protections for LGBT Americans.32 Moreover, 71 percent of young adults ages 18
to 29 support the ACA contraceptive mandate, and 64 percent reject the idea that
for-profit employers should receive exemptions for religious beliefs.33 An increasing number of Americans identify as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and members
8 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
of other non-Christian religions. And more and more Americans do not identify
with a religious faith at all. These religiously unaffiliated Americans, or “nones,”
represent almost 20 percent of all Americans and more than one-third of all
Millennials ages 18 to 33.34
When it comes to religious tolerance and diversity, eight out of ten Millennials
do not support government scrutiny of Muslims solely because of their religious
faith.35 According to the Public Religion Research Institute:
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Millennials say that they would be comfortable with a Muslim teaching elementary school in their community, compared to only 36 percent of seniors. More than 6-in-10 (61 percent) Millennials
say they would be comfortable with a mosque being built near their home,
compared to only 37 percent of seniors.36
Leaders and stakeholders who aim to make a progressive impact in 2016 and
beyond must realize the extent to which Millennials apply values of tolerance and
equality to support progressive policies. Millennials support religious freedom
rights for religious minorities while also resisting the use of religion to interfere
with access to comprehensive health care and LGBT nondiscrimination protections. Majorities of Millennials also support requiring religiously affiliated
employers to provide health care plans that include contraceptive coverage—
including colleges, hospitals, and privately owned corporations.37 As reported by
the Center for American Progress, “Millennials in every region of the country support LGBT nondiscrimination protections, including 80 percent of Millennials
in the Northeast; 66 percent of Millennials in the West; 66 percent of Millennials
in the Midwest; and 57 percent of Millennials in the South.”38 And Millennials, at
67 percent, are the largest voting-eligible demographic group to oppose allowing
small business owners to refuse service to LGBT people on religious grounds.39
9 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Recommendations
Successfully advancing progressive health care laws, nondiscrimination policies, and religious tolerance depends on restoring a progressive interpretation
of religious liberty that maintains the balance between that core American value
and the government’s compelling interest in protecting others from harm or the
imposition of religious beliefs. This needs to happen not only in progressive legislative and judicial action but also as a part of the broader cultural conversation.
Progressive lawmakers and advocates—as they engage the fight against discriminatory laws and judicial interpretation—should proactively articulate the relationship between this progressive vision of religious liberty and the support that
vision already holds among both people of faith and the religiously unaffiliated.
As a core American value, an understanding of religious liberty that resists harm
to others also has the capacity to strengthen progressive reform. To that end, we
recommend that progressive leaders, lawmakers, and advocates do the following:
Include progressive religious liberty in issue advocacy
A progressive vision for religious liberty is not only compatible with, but also
essential to, a broader progressive social agenda. Lawmakers, candidates, advocates, and stakeholders who are committed to the values of nondiscrimination,
expanded health care access, diversity, and tolerance should incorporate a positive
understanding of a religious liberty inclusive of these values into their advocacy.
This means advancing the fact that progressive social values and progressive
religious liberty are mutually reinforcing. Resisting discrimination and embracing
diversity strengthens the ability of all Americans to freely exercise their belief or
nonbelief according to their values.
For example, speaking on behalf of comprehensive reproductive health care access
can and should include both a rejection of the right of employers to use religion
to restrict the health care decisions of their employees and an affirmation of the
rights of employees to use their conscience to make the health care decisions that
10 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
are right for them. Employers and politicians have no right to play the part of spiritual adviser or trusted health care provider. The government is constitutionally
charged with protecting citizens from such an imposition of religious belief and
the corresponding harms it would create.
Demonstrate that religious liberty has an intersectional effect
on vulnerable communities
Progressives must be willing to see religious liberty as an intersectional issue
that transcends interest-group politics. The use of religious liberty as a cover for
discrimination and restricted health care access will always hit already vulnerable
populations the hardest. It is no coincidence that women of faith from communities of color demonstrate disproportionate levels of support for protecting access
to contraception in the ACA; they are often the same communities most in need
of access to affordable comprehensive care.
Additionally, federal and state funds enable religious and nonprofit organizations—such as homeless shelters and adoption and foster care agencies—to
provide critical services. Statistics consistently show that LGBT populations
appear disproportionately represented among homeless populations, particularly
when it comes to homeless and runaway youth.40 However, bills such as FADA
could allow religious organizations receiving federal funds to deny services to
LGBT-identified youth—including gender-identity appropriate housing and
sexual assault response services. More than 400,000 young people currently live
in the foster care system without permanent homes.41 At the same time, nearly
half of childless LGB people have expressed an interest in adopting someday.42
Same-sex couples may be more likely to adopt children with disabilities, who are
often harder to place in permanent homes. 43 However, state-level adoption bills—
such as those introduced in Nebraska, Michigan, Florida, and Oklahoma—could
prevent child placement agencies that wish to discriminate against LGBT parents
from losing state funding.44 These LGBT Americans and young people in need
should not be forced to bear the burdens and harms of other’s discriminatory religious beliefs by being denied the care that public funds are intended to provide.
11 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Frame anti-Muslim bigotry as a religious liberty issue
Progressives acknowledge that religious liberty is a value afforded to all
Americans. America has not been a majority Christian Protestant nation since
2014, and the population of Christians continues to ebb. As of 2016, white
Christians are the minority in 19 states, and a substantial number of Americans do
not claim a religious affiliation.45 Therefore, progressive religious liberty must proactively ensure that religious liberty can be preserved for an increasingly diverse
American population that must learn to live side by side.
When condemning anti-Muslim bigotry and acts of violence, intimidation, and
discrimination against religious minorities, progressive leaders should frame such
events as violations of religious liberty. Moreover, they should be willing to call
out the hypocrisy of war on religion narratives that persist in the same extreme
conservative circles that are also calling for discrimination against Muslim citizens
and immigrants. At the same time, leaders should find opportunities to lift up the
broad support for religious tolerance found across America’s ideological spectrum. Doing so would serve as a powerful contrast to the rhetoric of hate that is
advanced too often in conservative media and politics.
Fight overly broad religious exemptions and advance a progressive
vision of religious liberty
Despite a significant lack of public support for new religious freedom bills on both
the federal and state levels, lawmakers continue to disregard their constituents
and invest their energies into these unnecessary and dangerous laws. Progressives
must continue to point out the threat that laws—such as FADA, the Health Care
Conscience Rights Act, and other overly broad religious exemption bills—pose
to civil rights, comprehensive health care access, and the economic security of
women and families, especially the most vulnerable communities. These bills
take valuable time and attention away from policies that would truly strengthen
America’s democracy and the well-being of its citizenry—such as Medicaid expansion; the enforcement of the ACA comprehensive health care mandate; nondiscrimination protections for LGBT Americans; and the enforcement of religious
and civil liberty protections for religious minorities.
12 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
At the same time, progressives should support federal legislation to amend the
federal RFRA in order to ensure that it cannot be used to impose meaningful
harms on others—such as violating nondiscrimination protections; refusing
access to health care; disregarding child-welfare policies; denying equal opportunity; or otherwise preventing the provision of government services.
13 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Conclusion
Progressives have a long history of leadership when it comes to just, inclusive policies that make it possible for every American to achieve stability and
well-being for themselves and their families. A balanced approach to religious
liberty—an approach that protects this fundamental right while refusing to relinquish other fundamental freedoms—should be amplified as a key component of
a progressive agenda. Many Americans voice overwhelming support for a nation
whose respect for religious liberty means allowing women to follow their conscience to determine the parenting and family planning decisions that are right
for them; affirming the rights of LGBT people to nondiscrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations regardless of the religious beliefs of
proprietors or employers; and ensuring that Americans of all faiths can worship
and practice as they choose.
As this report has demonstrated, the beliefs of extremely conservative activists are
far from where everyday Americans and people of faith stand on the issue of religious liberty. This disconnect is particularly critical in 2016. Drawing clear lines
between progressive policies and religious liberty could make the difference when
it comes to electing progressive lawmakers who champion a balanced, inclusive
vision of religious liberty rather than conservative lawmakers who would manipulate religious freedom in order to advance harmful and discriminatory policies.
Opportunities abound to integrate a progressive interpretation of religious liberty
into current policy advocacy and responses to the radical rhetoric of fear and discrimination. This is more than countermessaging. It is a positive, hopeful declaration that restores the original value of religious liberty, prevents harm, and affirms
the right of all Americans to freely exercise their beliefs.
14 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
About the author
Carolyn Davis is a Senior Policy Analyst for the Faith and Progressive Policy
Initiative at the Center for American Progress, where she works on issues including religious liberty and reproductive justice. Prior to joining the Center, she
taught courses on religion, gender, and sexuality at Andover Newton Theological
School in Newton, Massachusetts, and at Wesley Theological Seminary in
Washington, D.C. Davis holds a doctorate in religion from Vanderbilt University
and is an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church.
15 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
Endnotes
1 National Women’s Law Center, “Zubik v. Burwell:
Non-Profit Objecting Employers Want to Make It More
Difficult, If Not Impossible, for Women to Access Critical
Birth Control Coverage,” February 29, 2016, available at
http://nwlc.org/resources/zubik-v-burwell-non-profitobjecting-employers-should-not-be-allowed-to-makeit-harder-for-women-to-access-critical-birth-controlcoverage/.
13 Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government
Discrimination Act, H. Rept. 1523.
2 American Civil Liberties Union, “Anti-LGBT Religious
Exemption Legislation Across the Country,” available at
https://www.aclu.org/anti-lgbt-religious-exemptionlegislation-across-country (last accessed March
2016)..015),ic Religion Research Institute: Washington,
n Sexuality and Reproductive Health,”
15 Justin Wm. Moyer, “Armed anti-Muslim protesters
stage ‘strange’ protest outside mosque in clock kid’s
hometown,” The Washington Post, November 23, 2015,
available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/
morning-mix/wp/2015/11/23/armed-anti-muslimprotesters-stage-strange-protest-outside-mosque-inclock-kids-hometown/.
3 Walter Olson, “Gay marriage and Religious Rights: Say
Nada to FADA,” Newsweek, September 10, 2015, available at http://www.newsweek.com/gay-marriage-andreligious-rights-say-nada-fada-370860.
4 Denise Robbins and Kate Sarna, “Conservative Media
Who Complained of ‘War on Christianity’ Now Slamming Pope on Climate Change,” Media Matters for
America, June 23, 2015, available at http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/06/23/conservative-mediawho-complained-of-war-on-chr/204092.
5 Todd Starnes, “The President’s Assault on Religious
Liberty Has Been Nothing Short of Breathtaking,” available at http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/toddscommentaries/the-presidents-assault-on-religiousliberty-has-been-nothing-short-of-breathtaking.html
(last accessed March 2016).
6 Public Religion Research Institute, “Majority of Americans Still Support Contraception Coverage Mandate,”
June 2, 2014, available at http://publicreligion.org/
newsroom/2014/06/news-release-contraception/#.
VseJbfkrIdU.
7Ibid.
8 First Amendment Defense Act, H. Rept. 2802, 114 Cong.
1 sess. (Government Printing Office, 2015), available at
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/housebill/2802/text?format=txt.
9 Protect Thy Neighbor and Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, “2016 State Legislation
Tracker” (2016), available at http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/state-legislation-2016.
10 Ibid.
11 Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government
Discrimination Act, H. Rept. 1523, Mississippi Legislature Regular Session (2016), available at http://index.
ls.state.ms.us/isysnative/UzpcRG9jdW1lbnRzXDIwMTZccGRmXGhiXDE1MDAtMTU5OVxoYjE1MjNpbi5wZGY=/hb1523in.pdf#xml=http://10.240.72.35/isysquery/
irlbbc6/68/hilite.
12 Carolyn Davis and others, “Restoring the Balance: A
Progressive Vision of Religious Liberty Preserves the
Rights and Freedoms for All Americans” (Washington:
Center for American Progress, 2015), available at
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/report/2015/10/20/123623/restoring-the-balance/; Carolyn Davis and Hannah Hussey, “Strengthening Child
Welfare Systems by Resisting LGBT Discrimination,”
Center for American Progress, June 3, 2015, available
at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/
news/2015/06/03/114387/strengthening-child-welfaresystems-by-resisting-lgbt-discrimination/.
14 Rachel Zoll and Emily Swanson, “AP-NORC Poll:
Christian-Muslim split on religious freedom,” Associated
Press, December 30, 2015, available at http://bigstory.
ap.org/article/de486b3d64154d0baae9f04fba0a4094/
ap-norc-poll-religious-rights-us-christians-most-valued.
16 Janet Hook, “Ted Cruz ‘Disagrees’ with Trump Muslim
Ban, but Won’t Criticize Him for It,” The Wall Street
Journal, December 8, 2015, available at http://blogs.
wsj.com/washwire/2015/12/08/ted-cruz-disagreeswith-trump-muslim-ban-but-wont-criticize-him-for-it/.
17 Pew Research Center, “Views of Government’s Handling
of Terrorism Fall to Post-9/11 Low,” December 15, 2015,
available at http://www.people-press.org/2015/12/15/
views-of-governments-handling-of-terrorism-fall-topost-911-low/.
18 American Civil Liberties Union, “Nationwide AntiMosque Activity,” available at https://www.aclu.org/
map/nationwide-anti-mosque-activity (last accessed
March 2016).
19 Mary Bowerman, “#IWillProtectYou: U.S. service members soothe scared Muslim girl,” USA Today, December
24, 2015, available at http://www.usatoday.com/story/
news/nation-now/2015/12/22/iwillprotectyou-us-service-members-soothe-scared-muslim-girl/77748874/.
20 Deborah Jian Lee, “Why the Young Religious Right
Is Leaning Left,” Time, October 20, 2015, available at
http://time.com/4078909/evangelical-millennials/.
21 United Church of Christ, “Resisting Actions Seeking to
Undermine the Status of Women in Society,” available at
http://uccfiles.com/pdf/gs29-11-WomanEqualPartners.
pdf (last accessed March 2016).
22 Caroline Montgomery, “Moving Forward: LGBT Rights in
the United States,” The Episcopal Church, July 29, 2015,
available at http://advocacy.episcopalchurch.org/app/
document/8719537;jsessionid=M3ZAqhbD+qYhsmrTzT
uF7HZF.undefined.
23 Center for American Progress, “As people of faith and as
Americans, we must not allow fear to breed hatred and
discrimination,” Medium, November 24, 2015, available
at https://medium.com/@amprog/as-people-of-faithand-as-americans-we-must-not-allow-fear-to-breedhatred-and-discrimination-c38c6cba2351#.v9i2q09er.
24 University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy
& Innovation, “Religion and support for birth control
health coverage can mix,” Press release, March 12,
2015, available at http://ihpi.umich.edu/news/religionsupport-birth-control-health-coverage-can-mix.
25 Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox, “How Race and Religion
Shape Millennial Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproductive Health” (Washington: Public Religion Research
Institute, 2015), available at http://publicreligion.org/
site/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/PRRI-MillennialsWeb-FINAL.pdf.
16 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
26 Public Religion Research Institute, “Religion, Values, and
Experiences: Black and Hispanic American Attitudes
on Abortion and Reproductive Issues,” July 26, 2012,
available at http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/07/
african-american-and-hispanic-reproductive-issuessurvey/#.VsebkfkrIdU.
27 Religious Institute, “Open Letter to Religious Leaders on
Family Planning,” last accessed March 2016, available
at http://www.religiousinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Open-Letter-on-Family-Planning-withendorsers-2014.pdf.
28 Daniel Cox and Joanna Piacenza, “Majorities of Each
Political Party Support LGBT Nondiscrimination Laws,”
Public Religion Research Institute, July 8, 2015, available at http://publicreligion.org/2015/07/democratstwice-as-likely-as-republicans-to-strongly-favor-lgbtnondiscrimination-laws/#.VsyMsvkrIdU; Public Religion
Research Institute, “Beyond Same-sex Marriage: Attitudes on LGBT Nondiscrimination Laws and Religious
Exemptions from the 2015 American Values Atlas,”
February 18, 2016, available at http://publicreligion.
org/research/2016/02/beyond-same-sex-marriageattitudes-on-lgbt-nondiscrimination-and-religiousexemptions-from-the-2015-american-values-atlas/#.
VsyNcfkrIdU.
29 Ibid.
30 Cherilyn Williams, “General Board commits to seek new
venue for 2017 General Assembly,” Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), March 31, 2015, available at http://
disciples.org/general-assembly/ministry-leaders-sendletter-to-governor/.
31 Ruy Teixeira, William H. Frey, and Rob Griffin, “States of
Change: The Demographic Evolution of the American
Electorate, 1974-2060” (Washington: Center for
American Progress, 2015), available at https://www.
americanprogress.org/issues/progressive-movement/
report/2015/02/24/107261/states-of-change/.
32 Public Religion Research Institute, “Beyond Same-Sex
Marriage.”
33 Liz Hamel, Jamie Firth, and Mollyann Brodie, “Kaiser
Health Tracking Poll: April 2014,” The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation, April 29, 2014, available at http://kff.
org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-trackingpoll-april-2014/.
34 Pew Research Center, “America’s Changing Religious
Landscape,” (2015), available at http://www.pewforum.
org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/.
35 Pew Research Center, “Views of Government’s Handling
of Terrorism Fall to Post-9/11 Low,” December 15, 2015,
available at http://www.people-press.org/2015/12/15/
views-of-governments-handling-of-terrorism-fall-topost-911-low/.
37 Jones and Cox, “How Race and Religion Shape Millennial Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproductive Health.”
38 Sarah McBride and Zenen Jaimes Pérez, “Millennials Overwhelmingly Support Comprehensive LGBT
Nondiscrimination Protections,” Center for American
Progress, April 7, 2015, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2015/04/07/110523/
millennials-overwhelmingly-support-comprehensivelgbt-nondiscrimination-protections/.
39 Public Religion Research Institute, “Beyond Same-Sex
Marriage.”
40 Soon Kyu Choi and others, “Serving Our Youth 2015:
The Needs and Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, and Questioning Youth Experiencing
Homelessness” (New York, NY: The Palette Fund, 2015),
available at http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wpcontent/uploads/Serving-Our-Youth-June-2015.pdf.
41 The Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Number of Kids
in Foster Care Increases for First Time Since 2005,”
May 1, 2015, available at http://www.aecf.org/blog/
number-of-kids-in-foster-care-increases-for-first-timesince-2005/.
42 Pew Research Center, “A Survey of LGBT Americans
Attitudes: Experiences and Values in Changing Times,
Chapter 4: Marriage and Parenting” (2013), available at
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/06/13/chapter4-marriage-and-parenting/.
43 Gary J. Gates and others, “Adoption and Foster Care
by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States”(Los
Angeles, CA; Washington: The Williams Institute; The Urban Institute, 2007), available at http://www.urban.org/
sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/411437Adoption-and-Foster-Care-by-Lesbian-and-Gay-Parents-in-the-United-States.PDF.
44 Adopt the Child Welfare Services Preservation Act, L.B.
975, Nebraska Legislature (January 14, 2016), available at http://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.
php?DocumentID=28254; Public Act 53 of 2015, H.B.
4188, Michigan Legislature (2015), available at http://
www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(qej554tulyrcvpluidwr5n5x))/
mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=2015HB-4188; Conscience Protection for Actions of Private
Child-Placing Agencies, H.B. 7111, Florida House of
Representatives (July 1, 2015), available at http://
www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.
aspx?BillId=54626.
45 Joanna Piacenza, “10 Things the American Values Atlas
Teaches Us About America’s Religious Landscape,” Public Religion Research Institute, February 25, 2015, available at http://publicreligion.org/2015/02/10-thingsthe-american-values-atlas-teaches-us-about-religion/#.
VrpbivkrIdU.
36 Public Religion Research Institute, “American Attitudes
on Muslims,” November 7, 2011, available at http://publicreligion.org/research/2011/11/fact-sheet-americanattitudes-on-muslims/#.VvQwfuIrIdU.
17 Center for American Progress | Advancing Progressive Religious Liberty in 2016
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